-Te'o never said he actually met her
-Te'o's dad either directly or indirectly said they met at a Stanford game
-the media then reported more and more embellished stories about real life interaction

Ok, assuming that Te'o never told the "media" he actually met her in person, we do know he told it to teammates and obviously to his dad (where else would the dad get the story?)

So trying to portray him as an innocent victim is playing ostrich. The stories about how they met and their in person meetings came from him, not anywhere else. It's understandable he lied so people wouldn't know he never met the woman but don't try to pretend like he is completely innocent.

Quote:

So having been 'Catfished' myself in college (sigh, sad to admit, several times), I'm starting to wonder if he told the truth. There is (or was) a deep pool of crazy ass women online who lie about who they are because, one can only assume, they enjoy the attention(?).

They make up crazy stories as to why they can't meet, video chat, etc. Lie about things like illness, disease, accidents, dying family members, etc.

Now, if this was months, I get it. Maybe he is just insecure and got duped by a crazy girl lying about who she is.

If this was truly for 3 years, well..... Not sure what I believe then.

The AZ player coming out, well, I thin he is full of it and flat out lying to try to cover for a friend.

The length of time is what gets me along with him describing how he talked with her for hours every night and falling asleep with her on the phone. If this was strictly online, who was he talking to? And you are telling me a hoaxer will go to the length of having daily hours long heartfelt talks over the phone over a long period of time just to perpetuate a ruse?

-Te'o never said he actually met her
-Te'o's dad either directly or indirectly said they met at a Stanford game
-the media then reported more and more embellished stories about real life interaction

So having been 'Catfished' myself in college (sigh, sad to admit, several times), I'm starting to wonder if he told the truth. There is (or was) a deep pool of crazy ass women online who lie about who they are because, one can only assume, they enjoy the attention(?).

They make up crazy stories as to why they can't meet, video chat, etc. Lie about things like illness, disease, accidents, dying family members, etc.

Now, if this was months, I get it. Maybe he is just insecure and got duped by a crazy girl lying about who she is.

If this was truly for 3 years, well..... Not sure what I believe then.

The AZ player coming out, well, I thin he is full of it and flat out lying to try to cover for a friend.

In Bold, in the interview I heard this morning, HE talked about her physical beauty, suggesting he did meet her. Could he be talking about this from possibly a photo?

Man this thing is absolutely nuking futz....I still think this is some sort of cover up for something greater that has yet to be reviled...

-Te'o never said he actually met her
-Te'o's dad either directly or indirectly said they met at a Stanford game
-the media then reported more and more embellished stories about real life interaction

So having been 'Catfished' myself in college (sigh, sad to admit, several times), I'm starting to wonder if he told the truth. There is (or was) a deep pool of crazy ass women online who lie about who they are because, one can only assume, they enjoy the attention(?).

They make up crazy stories as to why they can't meet, video chat, etc. Lie about things like illness, disease, accidents, dying family members, etc.

Now, if this was months, I get it. Maybe he is just insecure and got duped by a crazy girl lying about who she is.

If this was truly for 3 years, well..... Not sure what I believe then.

The AZ player coming out, well, I thin he is full of it and flat out lying to try to cover for a friend.

The story about them meeting at the Stanford game was given by him. The reporters who wrote it...not Deadspin.. were quoted as saying they got the information from he and his family. The part about the looks and touching hands...him. That story was out there for public consumption for a year and he never denied it or corrected it.

I'm not saying he is part of the hoax but it concerns me that the above story was through him and was never corrected and it concerns me that his "love" was in an auto accident and had leukemia and he never once went to see her in a hospital...or tried to. To me that is fishy. He talked about sending white flowers to her funeral yet there was no funeral.

Ok here is my question, and I hope I do not offend those this has happened to...

At what point in this "relationship" do you not call BS and move on? If a girl I met, over the internet, found every excuse not to meet me, my red flag is going up that either...

A: she isn't who she says she is,

B: she is actually a he or

C: She has some serious issues and I am not sure I want to be apart of that...

It says this was a 3 year relationship, right, and he did or didn't actually meet her? Wouldn't that be a sign of serious emotional instability?

As far as always failing to meet up in person.....

Fool me once....shame on you.
Fool me twice... shame on me.
Fool me 3+ times.... I'm probably desperate and someone who has low self esteem and want to believe I'm in a relationship even though I know I'm really not.
Fool me numerous times over 3 years.... I am a complete idiot who yet somehow managed to graduate from Notre Dame and successfully play a difficult position in football that requires thinking and instinct that I'm likely to be drafted in the NFL....... or I was a part of it.

Fool me once....shame on you.
Fool me twice... shame on me.
Fool me 3+ times.... I'm probably desperate and someone who has low self esteem and want to believe I'm in a relationship even though I know I'm really not.
Fool me numerous times over 3 years.... I am a complete idiot who yet somehow managed to graduate from Notre Dame and successfully play a difficult position in football that requires thinking and instinct that I'm likely to be drafted in the NFL....... or I was a part of it.

The story about them meeting at the Stanford game was given by him. The reporters who wrote it...not Deadspin.. were quoted as saying they got the information from he and his family. The part about the looks and touching hands...him. That story was out there for public consumption for a year and he never denied it or corrected it.

I'm not saying he is part of the hoax but it concerns me that the above story was through him and was never corrected and it concerns me that his "love" was in an auto accident and had leukemia and he never once went to see her in a hospital...or tried to. To me that is fishy. He talked about sending white flowers to her funeral yet there was no funeral.

To correct myself and go with Yankee here this is an update from the authors of the article about the girlfriend and how they met

Update: the author of this article has said that Te'o's father was the source for the information about how the couple met. Presumably this information was a lie his son told him.

Would someone cover for him and throw it to his Dad? Either way T'eo lied to his Dad and told him this stuff...all of this stuff\

Quote:

"Lennay Kekua was a Stanford student and Cardinal football fan when the two exchanged glances, handshakes and phone numbers that fateful weekend three seasons ago.

She was gifted in music, multi-lingual, had dreams grounded in reality and the talent to catch up to them.

The plan was for Kekua to spend extensive time with the whole Te'o family when upwards of 40 of them came to South Bend in mid-November for ND's Senior Day date with Wake Forest.

'They started out as just friends,' Brian Te'o said. 'Every once in a while, she would travel to Hawaii, and that happened to be the time Manti was home, so he would meet with her there. But within the last year, they became a couple. And we came to the realization that she could be our daughter-in-law. Sadly, it won't happen now.'"

The guy is a devout Mormon so it's highly likely he is a virgin waiting for marriage.

I wonder which is considered worse in Mormon theology, pre-marital sex or publicly lying for months on end?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texecutioner

Have no idea why this is even a story. Especially that it is the biggest news story all over the sports world.

Find a bigger sports story going on right now. This has implication for ND as well as the young man himself. Let's hope it has implications for all the journalists who ran with it blindly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yankee_In_TX

Here's my $.02. Facts to date:

-Te'o never said he actually met her
-Te'o's dad either directly or indirectly said they met at a Stanford game
-the media then reported more and more embellished stories about real life interaction

From the deadspin article

Quote:

Nov. 28, 2009: Te'o and Kekua meet after Stanford's 45-38 victory over Notre Dame in Palo Alto, according to the South Bend Tribune: "Their stares got pleasantly tangled, then Manti Te'o extended his hand to the stranger with a warm smile and soulful eyes." Kekua, a Stanford student, swaps phone numbers with Te'o.

That quote isn't attributed to his Dad, as the next one is. So, exactly how did the SB Trib get the story? Edit: I see Frog's response above. Still looks like Te'o is fibbing to somebody.

Aside - Can I believe he got taken in? Sure. Does that excuse the layer-upon-layer of BS that's emerged since then? Nope. Was it made public before the Heisman voting? How about that bowl game? Neither ND, nor Te'o have a story that answers all the questions yet.

__________________D.B. - That sounds like a nugget of reality wrapped in a layer of embellished hyperbole.

I wonder which is considered worse in Mormon theology, pre-marital sex or publicly lying for months on end?

Find a bigger sports story going on right now. This has implication for ND as well as the young man himself. Let's hope it has implications for all the journalists who ran with it blindly.

From the deadspin article That quote isn't attributed to his Dad, as the next one is. So, exactly how did the SB Trib get the story? Edit: I see Frog's response above. Still looks like Te'o is fibbing to somebody.

Aside - Can I believe he got taken in? Sure. Does that excuse the layer-upon-layer of BS that's emerged since then? Nope. Was it made public before the Heisman voting? How about that bowl game? Neither ND, nor Te'o have a story that answers all the questions yet.

This is a really great read on all of these questions..I'll highlight the one I didn't even think about

This is where I get hung up and the question I return to again and again. You're talking about hours and hours of effort to fake a relationship. What's the payoff? To humiliate someone? (And stop with your Catfish emails, I know all about the show). I just don't buy that there's someone who wants to sit on the phone for eight hours long night after night pretending to be near death with cancer so they can eventually say, "Gotcha!"

This is the biggest waste of time ever. Plus, it requires not only a fake girlfriend, but a fake brother. And maybe other fake family members too. What's the point of an entire conspiracy built around convincing Manti Te'o that his online girlfriend is real?

And that's what I can't get past, there just isn't a real motive to fake this relationship. There's no payoff, no pot of gold at the end of the long con.

Watch this video beginning at 2:30 and look at how crazy this is. "She" wrote letters to him before every game?

That story was out there for public consumption for a year and he never denied it or corrected it.

I'm not saying he is part of the hoax but it concerns me that the above story was through him and was never corrected and it concerns me that his "love" was in an auto accident and had leukemia and he never once went to see her in a hospital...or tried to. To me that is fishy. He talked about sending white flowers to her funeral yet there was no funeral.

I still believe that it is plausible he was a dupe - he fell in love with 'her' and was too blind to call her BS. If that was the case for 3 years, then the boy needs a shrink. I could also see her not showing up for things so he lied or his family lied to cover.

I had a New Year's Eve date one year in college, online girl I was meeting for the first time. We had talked for months hours at a time, she lived about 6 hours away (in Ohio that's far! lol) - she called day of and made up some excuse about winning bowl game tickets and a limo, etc.

Needless to say, I lied to my friends about everything, it was embarrassing to be so stupid.

My gut is women that do this are unattractive or trash and lie about their appearance and who they are - and they enjoy the hours talking every day because they get to pretend they are someone else.

Now, I'm not saying 100% he got duped, but I submit to you it is very possible and if he did it for 3 years, the boy has some issues that need dealt with.

Oh, and I talked to some of these girls' 'family members.' Not far fetched 'he, I met this guy online friend/brother/whatever, he is starting to stalk me, will you tell him I died?' Cause yeah, I had third party folks tell me one of the online girls I talked to she had missed our meet up because she was in a bad car accident. Just my point - this **** does happen and there are crazy desperate people out there. I think the longest I was duped by a girl was roughly 4 months. What was her end game? Nothing, I guess?

If he truly was duped for 3 years I would not take him in the first round.